Top Five Big Damn Hero Moments: Vicki Pallister (Doctor Who)

Vicki really popped for me as a companion my second time through classic Who – she’s spunky and smart, and she’s always so pleased with herself when she makes good.  She doesn’t get the big moments as often as some on the show, but the moments I did find for her are all good ones.

Saving Barbara (Series 2, Episode 11 – “The Romans:  Conspiracy”)

Granted, Vicki doesn’t know at the time that it’s Barbara she’s saving, and she very nearly causes a huge paradox, but still, without her, Barbara would likely be dead.  Overhearing Nero’s wife giving instructions for a servant to be poisoned, Vicki secretly switches the goblets.  Though she doesn’t realize it’s Barbara, she’s sure this “servant” doesn’t deserve to die, and she’s not particularly fussed if Nero does.  “Oh, something else I forgot to tell you – I think I’ve poisoned Nero,” is such an awesome line.

Subduing the Zarbi (Series 2, Episode 18 – “The Web Planet:  Escape to Danger”)

Again, this is slightly accidental, but it’s still a solid win.  When Vicki unwittingly discovers that the Zarbi are afraid of spiders (by grabbing a specimen box out of the TARDIS instead of what the Doctor wants her to get,) she uses this knowledge to keep them at bay, brandishing the box whenever they get too close.

Reprogramming the Door Lock (Series 2, Episode 28 – “The Space Museum:  The Search”)

This is my favorite on the list.  Vicki is so great here – even though the rebels have told her that the machine sealing the door to the armory is impossible to get past, she insists on trying anyway.  The machine poses a series of questions to any potential entrant, and all answers have to be both honest and correct.  The rebels she’s with are ready to throw in the towel at every turn, but Vicki shrewdly listens to the whole sequence play out, then reprograms the machine to accept her answers.  Vicki:  1, Machine:  0.

Tricking the Drahvins (Series 3, Episode 3 – “Air Lock”)

Another good one.  When she and her friends get mixed up in the Drahvin/Rill conflict, she cleverly prevents the Drahvins from realizing they’ve switched allegiances.  Thinking fast, she gets one of the Rills’ Chumbley robots to cooperate with her, “proving” that she and the Doctor have captured the Chumbley and can control it.

Saving Troilus (Series 3, Episode 9 – “The Myth Makers:  Horse of Destruction”)

In her last episode, Vicki protects Troilus from the Greek assault on Troy by tricking him away from the city.  She can’t save Troy – they won’t listen to her any more than they will Cassandra – but at least she can save him.